Two-year-old legs

An article by Brad    No Comments

My son has been walking for a while now, ever since he was 1 year old.  And he’s been running ever since he’s been walking.  Hey, the kid has places to go.  But never very far, and never on anything other than carpet or hardwood.  And his legs and knees have withstood the damage.

But now we have the perfect storm: Nathan loves to run.  LOVES it, like Forrest Gump  loved it.  The weather is warm, so that means we spend more time outside, where there are uneven and rough sidewalks and driveways.  He spends more time at grandma’s house, who doesn’t baby him as much as we do.  And, most importantly, pants have given way to shorts.  Shorts means exposed knees.  Exposed knees means more boo boos.

So my wife and I went to a wedding yesterday, leaving Nathan with my mother for half the day, by far the longest we have ever left him with another human being.  Now, I’m not saying that his legs were as smooth as a model’s (or a newborn’s) when he left the house that morning, but when he got home, man, it looked like he had been crawling over broken glass all afternoon long.  I mean, his legs, from edge of diaper to shin, were a tapestry of fresh, spongy black and blue marks, slowly healing yellow-green bruises, fresh scrapes still raw, healing scrapes regaining a healthy pink.

My mom says he didn’t cry once, though he fell several times while running around.  And who am I to call my mother a liar.  But my god, I expect it won’t be long before the kid breaks something with the reckless, breakneck speed he navigates the world with.

And there’s nothing you can do about it.  You can’t keep a kid from running, can’t keep him him/her from falling.  All you can do is kiss the boo boos when they arise, and cringe once they take off again.

I think I’ll but my daughter knee pads.

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